About Biggles and who would like to accompany me to the Oscars?

I've mentioned Biggles having OCD (Osteochondrosis dissecans) in both heels in yesterdays post. Just now I've added some additional information about OCD in a footnote, but I feel I have to tell you a little bit about Biggles. If you are interested, read a short explanation about OCD in 'Yesterday evening'.

Who can resist this little cutie? This is Biggles. Full name: Boy O Boy Biggles of Towns Channel. He's called lots of names now, not all of them very flattering. But we mostly call him just Biggles or Binkyboy or just Idiot. He was born with people we know very well, who have been breeding labradors for years and years. Always according to the rules of the Dutch Labrador Association. The parent dogs are screened if they are healthy and don't have hereditary diseases. So were Biggles' parents. Both lovely dogs and completely healthy. No bone diseases or eye diseases. Their pups promised to be a healthy bunch of labradors. Of course you can never be sure. So when we totally fell for this little cuddly bundle and we took him home when he was ready to leave the nest, hubs was hoping to do lots of hunting training with him (we don't hunt, but we train the dogs to be real retrievers, because that is what their breed is and what they want to do). We carpeted all the hard flooring with cheap carpets, to prevent him from sliding and hurting his joints. We didn't let him play too wildly with the older dogs for the same reason. We gave him the best food, especially for large breeds. In short, we did everything according to the 'be a good human to your dog'-rules. After about 6 months we noticed he didn't really use his hind legs as he should do. The joints were a bit weird. The vet had already mentioned that as a small puppy his hindlegs were a bit too straight. So when we went to the vet with our concerns, he immediately referred us to a specialist. There we went with our happy, bouncy not so little pup. To a specialist clinic. The same clinic where I had been to with my first dog, a couple of years earlier, who turned out to be suffering from liver failure and acute leukaemia. She was the best dog you could ever have. But she died just before her 6th birthday. I have tears in my eyes writing this and she died about 8 years ago now. That is how much impact such a thing can have on someone. You can imagine that it wasn't a great feeling to be there again, with another great dog. Biggles was diagnosed to have OCD in both heels. Which isn't a very common thing. According to the specialist he was inoperable. We were devastated. But the specialist said that Biggles could get very old with it, although he probably needed painkillers for the rest of his life and supplements through his food in order to make his joints work more smoothly. And when he would be old enough (1 year) we could take him trotting next to a bike to strengthen his muscles. Also he told us not to keep him on a leash all the time and to let him play with other dogs. Rather a short and happy life than a long and miserable one, his philosophy was. And we agree.

The training however would be not so good since that involves a lot of jumping and running with sudden stops and turns. Not good for his joints. We took Biggles home and notified the trainer that we wouldn't be coming again. Then we started to do some research and found that there is a pool especially for dogs who need physiotherapy, near where we live. One of the two special dog pools in the whole of the Netherlands. We took Biggles there every week, for about a year. So he could swim in warm water to strengthen his muscles. That was a great therapy. We noticed so much improvement and he clearly enjoyed it.

Biggles now gets a painkiller every morning, combined with anti-inflammatories and a glucosamin/chondroitin supplement through his food. And you have never seen such a bouncy, happy, sweet dog. And finally, someone decided to nominate me for an Oscar! So, who would like to accompany me to the Oscars? I've got a wonderful dress, borrowed some lovely jewellery worth millions, took out a second morgage and bought Manolo Blahniks. Can't walk on them, but there are chairs I'm told. However, I need someone to hold on to on the red carpet.... "What? You've told me I'd get an Oscar! What do you mean: an OsKar... Not an OsCar? But... Oh heck!" Sorry, forget what I said. It isn't an Oscar after all. It's an OSKAR!!!!! And if I'm honest, I'd rather have an Oskar than an Oscar. My Manolo's will be on eBay soon, but I'm keeping the dress! Oskar, the coolest schnauzer ever, and his mom Mimi have generously awarded the very cool people (yes, me too) who follow Oskar's blog, with this wonderful Oskar award and they have asked us if we want to pass it on to bloggers we think are super cool. Since I think each and everyone of you who read my blog are: IF YOU READ THIS, PLEASE ACCEPT THIS AWARD AND POST IT ON YOUR BLOG. Make Oskar happy ;-)